


a song of desolation

by starryline



Category: ARGONAVIS from BanG Dream! AAside (Video Game)
Genre: Fantasy, M/M, NayuRen Week 2020, deity!ren, i wish i can draw to give justice to this fic smh, king!nayuta, nayuren week, no beta we die like men, nyrn week, nyrn week 2020
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-26
Updated: 2020-11-26
Packaged: 2021-03-09 23:54:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,469
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27724448
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/starryline/pseuds/starryline
Summary: What a tyrant and a fallen deity have in common is the cold empty void that they felt inside of them.
Relationships: Asahi Nayuta/Nanahoshi Ren
Kudos: 16
Collections: mish writes for nayuren week 2020





	a song of desolation

“Isn’t it lonely?” The question rang with innocence. His head tilted along with the rest of his body, curious eyes locked on the other’s sharp ones.

The inquiry struck a sense of naivety—the king scoffed, saying, “That’s not something for me to worry about.” To him, it’s what it means to live his life in the position he stands right now; a ruler need not the comfort of companionship, but rather, the subjection of kingdoms at the rule of his iron fist. Of course, a being as meek and gentle as the deity before him would not comprehend such experience.

As Ren stood in front of his throne, he drew his sword in a swift, smooth motion, greeting his delicate face with the tip of the blade. “Is that why you’re here? Because you think I’m suffering from desolation? Pathetic.”

In the midst of danger, the deity’s heart did not waver one b it. With the same lack of fear, his fingers pushed the weapon away. “Is that a bad thing, Nayuta-kun? I only meant to help!”

An intent as pure as the look on his face, Nayuta couldn’t stop himself from clicking his tongue at the sight. Nayuta sheathed his sword, and turned to his side. “You picked the wrong person to assist.”

“Ehhh…?” Ren’s voice trailed off; the purple in his eyes glimmered as he blinked twice. “You say that, but the melody I hear when I see you is heartbreaking…” Slowly, his hand reached out to Nayuta; the other couldn’t react more than a few inches of motion from the sudden flinch before his body froze. Eventually, Ren’s hand is pressed on the other’s chest, right where his heart is. “...Mhm, that’s a really sad sound, Nayuta-kun.”

“ _...Tch,_ ” He swatted his hand away, distancing himself from the deity by a few steps. “‘Ya said you were banished from your realm, right? It’s probably because your magic is fuckin’ off.”

“Ah, really!? N-No, it can’t b— huh!? Nayuta-kun!?”

The king excused himself out of his room; out the window, he jumped out of, into the darkness of the night.

“Nayuta-kun, wait!”

Hurriedly, Ren chased him using the same route; Nayuta ended up leading him to a vacant field after a bit of a run. Both were left tired and breathless, their bodies crashing to the floor as they attempted to regain the breath they’ve lost.

“Agh, don’t you get that I wanna fuckin’ be by myself!?” Nayuta growled. “Leave me **alone**!”

“That’s not true!” Ren retorted, in between pants. “I can sense it in your sound! You don’t wanna be alone, do you?”

“What do you know!?” The royalty screamed on top of his lungs. “You just barged into people’s lives unwanted, claiming you’re here to help where it’s not needed! Why don’t you just fucking get lost!”

“I refuse to believe that’s true!” Ren said with conviction, meeting Nayuta dead in the eye. “I’ve first heard of you from Argonavis’ stories—how you were a fearsome, cruel tyrant that crushes everything in your path. Truth be told, that actually made me afraid… especially when Argonavis said we had to defend a village from your raid. However, that night… I saw you, standing proudly with the moonlight behind you… I felt sadness in your eyes…”

“Nonsense.” Nayuta cut him off. “That’s bullshit—”

“Then what is this melody I hear when I see you!? Why did my heart cry during that night we met!?”

“And you think that’ll make me feel sorry?”

“I—”

“You’re ridiculous.”

They both fell silent, unable to find the right words to carry on. More than that, Ren pained over the other, who felt none for the tragic situation he was in…

Is this, perhaps, the “something” he has to fulfill…?

“...Maybe I am.” The deity spoke in a voice barely above a whisper. The dimness hid his aggrieved expression, yet the voice failed to hide his woundedness. “...Back in my realm, they would say the same thing. I was a bit weird, and I was just like you, somehow; I’d used to want to be alone, you know? ‘It was a shame,’ they say, ‘since I had such a beautiful voice that can bring others joy,’ yet I turned away from that. I think… that’s why they brought me to the realm of mortals: to make me realize this.”

The weight of Ren’s words caused Nayuta to unknowingly zeroed in on him; there was some kind of mysterious force that compelled him to focus on the other… was this his doing? Is this the kind of power he had?

“...I only understood loneliness after I met Yuuto, Wataru, Rio, and Banri. When Yuuto found me, and formed this odd wandering party of his… we don’t even know what’s in store for us, but we’ll look forward to it, together… may it be to save a village again, or seeking treasure the world has yet to see…

...What about you...?”

The question shot right through his majesty; for the first time, he knew what it felt to be subjected.

“Is conquering kingdoms day and night really giving meaning to your life? Does it matter _that_ much, that you’re willing to push people away and—”

“Shut up.”

“Is it worth exiling Yuuto!? As for the rest of your kingdom… Gyroaxia… will you really continue to treat them like dispensable tools…?”

“Don’t tell me what to fucking do!”

"I can't do that!"

Ren's voice echoed, seething with anger that neither of them expected from him. The air around them grew tense; Ren's hand balled into a fist out of frustration.

"...How can I leave you like this? For you to be alright to live such a cold, sad life…"

He was _breaking_ —raw emotions delivered loud and clear. Nayuta _hates_ how he was shaken up by this; no, he had to stand on his ground.

"You and I aren't the same. This is the life I wish to live, and if you have a problem with that, then scram."

" **No.** "

"...Hah?"

Slowly, Ren took a few steps towards Nayuta, his head, still lowered. Nayuta gradually backed off, but the other closed more distance than he could, until Ren was able to reach Nayuta; it was too close for comfort, but even as a hand was placed on his cheek, and the other captured his wrist… Nayuta couldn’t retaliate.

For a moment, Ren fixed his gaze on Nayuta’s face; seeing a clear and rare view of a flushed expression caught off-guard. Slowly, Ren’s eyes fluttered shut, filling the dead air between them with a tune he began to hum. It was a sound that chimed of solitude, each note growing colder and more desperate than the last, moving Nayuta in a way he couldn’t understand, and almost, all too closely, bringing a tear to his eye. Before it could manage to fall, Ren gently wiped it off, mustering a soft, comforting smile, ready to meet him eye to eye once more.

“You can’t hide it from me, Nayuta-kun.” Ren declared, “Hearing and understanding people through sound… I may be a banished deity, but it’s what I do—ah, no—it’s the _only_ thing I can do.”

Just as how he first moved close to the other, it was also Ren that first broke free, letting go of Nayuta to walk past him, into the vastness of the field behind the king. His focus has shifted to the sky that engulfed them from above, admiring the celestial bodies that graced their presence this serene night. Though as mesmerizing as they are, Nayuta couldn’t draw his attention away from Ren; the way the atmosphere highlighted his entire person, as Ren stood elegantly in his white drapes, while spots of shining stars decorated his skin, reflecting the brilliance of the moonlight; he really appeared as a godly entity right before him, an image that even moved this fierce tyrant’s heart.

“Come to think of it,” Ren spoke, breaking the other out of the trance he was submersed in, “we met at a night like this, didn’t we? Though it lacked the chaos that you and your army had made.”

“Tch,” Nayuta scoffed at the last remark, “what, you want more of that?”

“W-Wait, no— that’s not what I—”

“ _Hmph_ ,” He began to walk, until they were right beside each other. He kept his hands snuck in his pocket, keeping his eyes right in front of him.

“...Sing.”

“...Eh?”

“...You said that’s what you do, right? Then do it...”

“Ah, m-mhm…!”

He didn’t understand how, but somehow, something in his song had struck him… though he doubts that it has the miraculous power to bring a change of heart, it at least calmed the flames that burned too brightly inside of him.

...He could at least enjoy that, can’t he?

**Author's Note:**

> just a note: the tune ren hummed was more or less similar to that of yuudachi by after the rain (here's a link: https://youtu.be/G3dVqx8ZIGM !! the song is good so i suggest u give it a listen <33)
> 
> okay this one was a bit of a challenge to write?? but king!nayuta and deity!ren is a good concept?? i'd write more about it if i only have the time and energy to, but alas that sounds like a far fetched dream


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